Another Kind of Book Group - Guest Post!
- J.H. Jones
- Oct 16
- 4 min read
What a joy to host PATRICIA CRISAFULLI, author of the Ohnita Harbor Series! As an author of several books and many short stories, she's esteemed for sharing her writing insights and experiences, but this post about her recently released third mystery in the series, THE SECRETS OF THE OLD POST CEMETERY, is especially helpful, with useful tips and advice that will resonate with any author. If you want to read more of her personal memoirs and essays, follow her Substack, One Good Mystery Deserves Another. For her creative work, visit her website at www.FaithHopeandFiction.com. And for additional updates and announcements, follow her on Instagram.
Month to month, you’ve met with your faithful book group—swapping pages, sharing feedback, giving support. And now finally, you have the page proofs from your publisher. It’s time for one last read before your book goes to print.
Are you really going it alone?
When my page proofs for my latest novel, The Secrets of the Old Post Cemetery, arrived in my email inbox sooner than I anticipated, I suddenly had 300-plus pages to review and in a compressed timeframe. Of course I was going to read my pages, two or three times. But I also wanted at least two additional pairs of eyes.
To be clear, these “friend readers” were in addition to the publisher’s proofreader, as well as readers I had used throughout the process—especially my brother-in-law, Ben, and my friend, Cindy. But pagination changes perception. These are the pages exactly as they will appear in print. And that’s what makes this final read unlike all the previous ones. For example, in proofs you might notice nouns, verbs, and adjectives that are not only repeated two or three times on a page, but two of them are stacked on top of each other. (Sigh …)
That’s why I reached out to Velda, my neighbor, and Laura, my talented writer friend. They eagerly agreed despite the caveat that I needed their feedback within a few days. Sure enough, both Velda and Laura turned their pages around within 36 to 48 hours.
Here are a few ways and reasons to assemble another kind of book group.
1. There are first readers and then there are proofreaders. Throughout all the writing, rewriting, and revising, your book group has read sections of your manuscript. They’ve praised you for great scenes and they’ve given you feedback on sections you need to fix, trim, or cut. These first readers, however, may not be the ideal proofreaders because they’re so familiar with your work. It’s so easy to skim without realizing it because you know what happens, or you really want to get to a favorite scene that’s just a few pages away. A proofreader, however, reads everything. That means printing out pages and putting a pencil on every word or moving your lips as you read. It’s meticulous. Not everyone can (or wants) to do this.
2. Your proofreader may not be a writer. My neighbor, Velda, is a former classroom teacher, a master teacher-trainer, and an avid reader. These qualifications put her on my list of proofreaders. She not only caught a few things but also made an excellent suggestion to swap out a word for clarity. She read the pages as a reader.
3. Your proofreader may absolutely be another writer. Laura, who I met years ago at a writers’ conference, understood that this was the final read. There were no frivolous edits to be made, like changing “dawn” to “early morning.” This was catch-the-typo time. Her proofread not only found a few errors that had slipped past everyone else, but she also assured me (and yes, at the 11th hour) that the storyline held her spellbound. She read the pages as a writer.
4. Read, read, read yourself. There is no joy for a writer like holding your page proofs in your hands. You did it! Your words will soon be between the front and back covers of your book. And there is no terror for a writer like holding your page proofs in your hands—and for the same joyful reasons mentioned above. Page proofs are the final reading, and you can’t make any wholesale changes. (Your publisher will, however, probably send you back another set of proofs for a final-final look.) No matter how many butterflies flutter in your stomach or how cold the sweat breaking out on your body, be sure to carefully and slowly read every word. You owe it to your creation.
Now, you’ve finished your proofreading. Your friends have given you their feedback. It’s time for one last edit: an extra line in your acknowledgements to thank your faithful proofreaders for their help in getting your book ready for the world.
PATRICIA CRISAFULLI is a bestselling author and an award-winning fiction writer. Her Ohnita Harbor Mystery Series launched in 2022 with The Secrets of Ohnita Harbor, followed in 2023 by The Secrets of Still Waters Chasm. Her latest in the series, The Secrets of the Old Post Cemetery, released in October 2025. Visit her website at www.FaithHopeandFiction.com.
You can get her latest book here:
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